Dating NVA

[Angus1235]

So I have some East German Officer boots.
They are just under knee-height, pigskin lined, pebbled finish and rough/suede toes. The original rubber soles broke off so unfortunately I had to make do with some not-so-authentic soles but the originals were made of rubber.
According to the cobbler, however, the inner soles were weird because they were apparently constructed for a leather-soled boot despite the rubber sole. The inside stamping reads:
22-8 : : 29 : : 18 : : 55 : : 3
This is the only identification I can see at all. I am fairly sure 29 is the size that was stamped on the original soles.

Note:
I didn't think the NVA had suede toes? They're definitely a ww2-style rough leather so not sure what's going on there. Possibly custom made or something?

[Carl Schwamberger]

....
According to the cobbler, however, the inner soles were weird because they were apparently constructed for a leather-soled boot despite the rubber sole.

I spent a couple years working in the shoe repair trade. Not clear if the cobbler was refering to the type of welt or something else. It might be the rubber soles were a substitution for leather that was unavailable for shoes already formed for leather. The rubber could have been from a repair job. Replacing soles can be done multiple times & this may have been the case with you boots.